Vanessa Bryant, the
embittered wife of Kobe Bryant has dragged Island Express to court after the
company’s helicopter crashed in Calabasas last month, leading to the death of
her husband Kobe, daughter Gianna and seven others on board.
According to TMZ, Vanessa
alleges that Island Express was only permitted to fly under visual flight
rules, and conditions on the day of the crash meant that the helicopter should
not have been flying.
Fog was extremely low when
the Sikorsky S-76B took off from John Wayne Airport and the pilot, Ara George
Zobayan, is said to have been in blinding conditions moments before the crash.
The lawsuit also reportedly
says that the pilot was travelling at 180mph in a steep decline amid the fog.
Additionally, the lawsuit
reads that the pilot failed to monitor and assess the weather before take-off,
as well as failing to obtain weather data prior to the flight
The pilot is also said to
have failed to abort the flight upon learning of the cloudy conditions.
Another allegation towards
Zobayan states that he did not avoid “natural obstacles” in the flight path.
The lawsuit says Island
Express embarked on unnecessary and needlessly risky means of transportation
given the conditions.
Damages are asked for in
the suit for “pre-impact” terror, which regards the emotional distress Kobe and
Gianna suffered as the helicopter crashed.
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